Boko Haram militants
FG orders re-opening of Maiduguri airport
Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri with agency report

Soldiers from Chad killed 207 Boko Haram militants in fighting on Tuesday near a Nigerian town close to the border with Cameroun, Chad’s army announced in a statement.
FG orders re-opening of Maiduguri airport
Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri with agency report

Soldiers from Chad killed 207 Boko Haram militants in fighting on Tuesday near a Nigerian town close to the border with Cameroun, Chad’s army announced in a statement.
This came as about 15 persons were said to been killed when Islamic sect attacked a remote village in Borno, opening fire and burning homes to the ground, three residents told AFP.
“We have so far lost 15 people and one was injured,” said Bukar Zira, who fled the village of Huyum in the Askira-Uba district of Borno State as the militants moved in on Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, one Chadian soldier was killed and another nine were wounded in the clashes near Gambaru, the scene of regular attacks by the Nigerian Islamist group in recent months. There was no immediate independent verification of the Chadian army’s announcement.
According to Reuters, Chad’s military also claimed to have seized large quantities of small arms and ammunition and two pick-up trucks.
Niger, Cameroun and Chad have launched a regional military campaign to help Nigeria defeat the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to carve an Islamic emirate out of North-eastern Nigeria.
Chad deployed troops last month in support of Camerounian efforts to stop repeated cross-border raids by the Islamists, whose operations increasingly threaten Nigeria’s neighbours.
The African Union last month authorised the creation of the regional force, which will also include Benin, and is pushing for a UN Security Council mandate for the operation.
The killings are are coming on the heels of an order by the federal government for the re-opening of the Maiduguri International Airport for commercial activities
The airport was closed for commercial activities over 18 months after the persistent attacks by the Boko Haram sect.
The airport was shut down early December, 2013, few days after the insurgents launched a daring attack on the 79 Composite of the Nigerian Air Force Base in Maiduguri and destroyed three military helicopters at the base.
Speaking with journalists, the Borno State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha, said the federal government resolved to re-open the airport following the seeming security improvement recorded in recent times.
“It is interesting to announce that the Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu, has confirmed to me that the federal government issued a directive for the re-opening of the Maiduguri International Airport for commercial activities,” the deputy governor declared.
“In fact, the Chief of Air Staff told me that the Nigerian Air Space Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), were already directed to work out modalities for the effective resumption of flights,” he added.
Zannah revealed that for commercial activities to kick start. Med View Airlines has announced its decision to fully commence flight from Maiduguri en route Abuja-Kano and Jeddah.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshall Amosu, however told journalists that the closure and re-opening of the airport had little to do with the Nigerian Air Force as it was in the jurisdiction of FAAN and NCAA.
He revealed that the airport might be temporarily closed from time to time if need be
Source:Thisday
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